Marketing communications is an industry ripe for re-engineering. Many companies regard marketing communications as a tactical, "need-to-have" piece of the business. Yet it's often seen as a "black hole", consuming large amounts of money and time with no true measurable return. As a result, marketing communications often gets limited attention or interest from top management.

Value creation opportunity
In reality, marketing communications is an enormous value creation opportunity for many companies. It's a vital, strategic weapon in the company's arsenal. Marketing provides the primary link between the high-level strategizing in the boardroom, and the reality of how your company and products are perceived in the market.

Revenue generation potential
In any market, most people are not ready, willing or able to "buy now". For this 90% of your market's customers, prospects, channel partners, media, industry experts, and financial analysts with whom you are not in direct dialogue, marketing communications is your sole vehicle for building awareness, interest and trust. For the other 10%, marketing communications is a vital complement to direct sales, customer service and business development. Few companies come close to leveraging the true revenue generation potential of marketing communications.

Cost savings and efficiencies
At the same time, marketing communications offers substantial cost-saving opportunities. It is typically a substantial line item for companies, with which few metrics are associated. Further, many marketing communications insiders come from one of the field's primary disciplines, such as advertising, PR or interactive marketing. Having built their careers in the one discipline, they have little interest in or understanding of the other disciplines, or of the strategic marketing communications picture. They also have a vested interest in promoting their one discipline as the solution to all problems. As a result, companies make sub-optimal decisions on the communications mix. In addition, they build up a large team or work with four or five different external agencies, and then struggle to reconcile the different world-views.

The 3x3 methodology - a novel solution
Our new 3x3 marketing communications methodology is designed to address these common problems and unleash marketing's enormous value potential. The methodology is the latest evolution in our thinking, based on both our extensive practical experience and thorough research of the industry's best thought leaders. The 3x3 methodology is designed to:

• Provide a comprehensive framework that integrates every key element of marketing communications.
• Empower companies to maximize the value creation potential of marketing communications by both increasing revenues and optimizing costs.
• Serve as an evaluation tool to quickly assess your greatest marketing communications opportunities.